Despite a recently signed peace agreement, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed group have resumed negotiations in Qatar as the country’s mineral-rich eastern provinces become more violent.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported that Kinshasa-based M23 delegations were gathering in Doha to review the implementation of a July truce. At a news briefing on Tuesday, Ansari stated, “We’ve received the two parties here in Doha to talk about the earlier agreement.”
Both sides agreed to a ceasefire and a path to a final settlement as part of the deal, which Qatar brokered. According to its terms, discussions were scheduled to begin on August 8 and wrap up on August 18. Due to allegations of violations from both sides, both deadlines passed without progress.
Ansari claimed that the current discussions include plans to switch prisoners and detainees and to establish a monitoring system for the truce. He added that the discussions were closely supported by the United States and the Red Cross International.
The Qatar-led initiative came after Rwanda, who supports M23, and DRC, signed a separate ceasefire agreement in June. The M23, however, demanded direct discussions with Kinshasa regarding what it termed “unresolved political grievances.”
Donald Trump, the president of the US, has repeatedly argued that he and other people have ended the conflict, calling the DRC the “darkest, deepest” region of Africa and saying that he has “saved lots of lives” among others. Trump made the claim on Monday that nine million people were “killed with machetes” during the illustrious war, insisting that “I stopped it.”
Trump’s claims have been refuted by rights organizations as being false. According to Christian Rumu of Amnesty International, “it is far from the truth to say that he has ended the war.” He continued, “People on the ground continue to experience grave human rights violations, and some of these amounts to crimes against humanity,” and urged Washington to step up efforts to end world war.
More than two million people have been forced to leave their homes in North and South Kivu provinces this year as a result of numerous ceasefire attempts. UN experts claim that Rwandan forces played a “critical” role in supporting the group’s offensive while Human Rights Watch last week accused the M23 of carrying out ethnically targeted “mass killings.”
Rwanda denies involvement, but concerns about a wider regional conflict have increased as a result of the M23’s capture of vast areas, including Goma earlier this year.
In a growing political conflict between Brazil and Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced that another official has had his US visa voided.
Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski was recently removed from his visa, according to Lula’s cabinet on Tuesday, which the president described as “irresponsible” on the part of the US.
Lula told his ministers, “I wanted to express my solidarity and the government’s solidarity with my colleague Lewandowski, who was confronted with the irresponsible gesture of the United States in revoke his visa.”
Lula added that other nations would not tolerate treating Brazil as less than it is. He added that Brazil possessed its own constitution and legal system.
“We are willing to occupy the same table,” the statement read. We don’t want to be treated like subordinates, which is what we do. Lula said, “We will not tolerate that from anyone.”
Although Brazil and the US have long been trading partners, relations have gotten more strained since US President Donald Trump’s second term began.
Trump has a strong kinship with Brazilian far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, whose presidency and first term overlapped with Trump’s. Bolsonaro served from 2019 to 2023, while Trump was in office from 2017 to 2021.
However, after losing to Lula in the 2022 presidential election, Bolsonaro is facing a trial this year for allegedly conspiring with his allies to pull off a coup d’etat.
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, but prosecutors allege he planned to use a number of strategies to stoke Lula’s government, including establishing a “state of siege,” bringing up the military, and holding new elections.
As the case’s verdict comes in early September, the former president is currently being placed under house arrest.
Trump’s opposition to the Bolsonaro trial
Trump has argued that the trial is a “witch hunt,” calling the Brazilian government’s decision to drop Bolsonaro’s case.
He praised Bolsonaro, who was dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” by posting a message on his social media platform Truth Social on July 7.
Trump remarked, “He is not guilty of anything other than fighting for THE PEOPLE.”
Then, two days later, Trump delivered the message in a letter to President Lula himself, informing him that Brazil would be subject to 50-percent tariffs on all of its US exports. Trump claimed that Brazil’s treatment of Bolsonaro was to blame for the high tariffs.
“The way that Brazil treated former president Bolsonaro, a highly respected leader throughout the world, including by the United States, is a disgrace,” Trump wrote in a statement.
“This trial shouldn’t be occurring,” he said. A witch hunt needs to end right away.
Brazil is now the world’s highest US tariff-affected nation as a result of those tariffs’ introduction on August 1. As a result of Russia’s imports of gasoline, India will start to be subject to 50-percent tariffs as well, starting on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has also imposed tariffs on Brazil to halt Bolsonaro’s trial, though this is just one example.
Alexandre de Moraes, a justice of the Supreme Court, was the US government’s spokesman when it allegedly censored right-wing voices.
For instance, Trump’s Department of State announced on July 18 that it would remove Moraes’ US visa and remove any members of his immediate family.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote that the political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro by Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes “created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates Brazilians’ fundamental rights but also targets Americans beyond Brazil’s borders.”
The US government increased the stakes by imposing financial sanctions on de Moraes on July 30.
They forbid de Moraes from doing business with the judge and restricted any US-based individual or entity from doing so.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement at the time that “De Moraes is accountable for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions, including against former president Jair Bolsonaro.
President Lula criticized the attacks on De Moraes, Lewandowski, and others as a violation of Brazil’s sovereignty at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has said that Tehran warned Europe’s top three powers that reimposing United Nations sanctions on the country will have consequences, as senior officials met to discuss the renewal of nuclear inspections in Iran to avoid an economic sanctions “snapback mechanism” after they were lifted under the previous 2015 accord.
Baghaei said Iran told Europeans during a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday that they do not have the right to trigger the mechanism, but that both sides would continue nuclear talks in the coming days.
The talks between senior foreign ministry officials from Iran and France, the United Kingdom and Germany – known as the E3 , – , came as the European grouping has long threatened to reinstate sanctions at the UN Security Council by October, when the nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers expires.
After meeting with the E3, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran remained committed to diplomacy and a mutually beneficial solution.
The European Union, which serves as coordinator of the 2015 deal was also attending.
Tuesday’s meeting marked the second round of talks between Iranian and European diplomats since Israel struck Iran in a 12-day war in mid-June. The war derailed Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the United States and prompted Iran to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Under the terms of the 2015 , Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action , (JCPOA), Iran committed to regular inspections of its nuclear energy programme in return for relief on some Western sanctions. The nuclear deal was torpedoed in 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first term as president, unilaterally withdrew the US and slapped crippling sanctions on Iran.
The E3, who remain parties to the deal brokered by then US President Barack Obama, have threatened to trigger the accord’s “snapback mechanism” by the end of August in response to Iran’s retaliatory move to halt inspections.
The window for activating the mechanism closes in October, after which the UN sanctions would be permanently removed.
Tehran has warned of a “harsh response” if sanctions are reinstated.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said during a weekly news conference that Tehran’s focus was “on preventing actions or incidents that may be costly for the country”.
He added that Tehran was “negotiating with all our might” in advance of the planned talks.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently said Tehran was working with its allies China and Russia – who are also parties to the JCPOA – to prevent the reimposition of sanctions. Just before Israel launched its surprise attacks on Iran, Tehran held five rounds of talks with Washington with the aim of reaching a new deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israel’s offensive killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of civilians, striking both military facilities and residential areas. The conflict also saw the US intervene on Israel’s behalf by carrying out massive strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities before it ended in a ceasefire on June 24.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, IAEA, says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent – far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord. A nuclear weapon must have a 90% enrichment.
Iran has repeatedly denied having nuclear weapons, insisting that its energy-producing program is only for civilian purposes.
After a weak jobs report that revealed gaps in the labor market, Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country’s economy.
The Conference Board announced on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped from a revised reading of 98.7 in July to 97.4 this month.
According to Stephanie Guichard, senior economist of global indicators at the Conference Board, “consumers’ perception of current job availability decreased for the eighth consecutive month.”
Pessimism about the availability of jobs increased, and optimism about the income declined in the process.
Consumers are concerned about their income. Short-term expectations of business conditions were the only indicator of a decline of 1.2 points, or 74.8. 80 is typically the indicator of a looming recession.
Employment market contributes to decline
While unemployment and layoffs are historically low, there has been a pronounced decline in the employment market this year as a result of mounting mounting evidence that people are having trouble finding jobs.
In July, US employers added 73, 000 jobs, which is far below what analysts had anticipated. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ revised May and June figures significantly reduced previous estimates by 258, 000 jobs, and the unemployment rate increased from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent.
In June, according to another government report, US employers posted 7.4 million job openings, down from 7.3 million in May. As a sign of confidence in their futures elsewhere, more people are leaving their jobs.
When the government releases its report on job gains and openings in August and June, more job data will be available the following week.
According to the Conference Board, references to high prices and inflation increased again and frequently appeared alongside tariffs in the consumer confidence index that it calculates.
While consumer prices were generally stable from June to July, according to other government data, US wholesale inflation unexpectedly increased last month.
Consumer costs are also rising as a result of President Donald Trump’s massive import taxes.
The Conference Board reported that in August, the share of consumers who had anticipated a recession for the upcoming year reached its highest level since the start of Trump’s tariff rollout, according to the Conference Board.
After July’s decline, the proportion of survey respondents who planned to buy a car in the near future increased, while those who planned to buy a home remained stable.
In a deadly Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, 20 people were killed, including journalists and medical personnel.
In fact, the hospital in Khan Younis was struck twice on Monday, 10 minutes apart, about 10 a.m. (GMT).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a statement that Israel regrets what he described as a “tragic mishap” only in an English-language statement, without explaining how Israel had twice struck the same hospital in an ostensible error.
What does a double-tap strike mean exactly? Is it permitted? What we are aware of is:
What transpired at Nasser Hospital?
Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman who was directing the news agency’s live feed, was the first to strike the hospital’s top storey.
Rescue workers and journalists who had fled the scene to assist after the first strike were killed during the second strike, which was captured on camera.
Dr. Mimi Syed, who has conducted two volunteer missions to Gaza, told CNN that Israel had instructed foreign doctors to leave the hospital before the attack for “some arbitrary reason” and that they were instructed not to do so until the following day. Netanyahu’s claim of a “tragic mishap” is “absolutely untrue.
The second strike is intended to kill any rescuers who come in for assistance, the first one or people.
Under former President Barack Obama’s administration, the United States is thought to have been one of the first to extensively use double-tap drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan.
Other armies, such as those of Ukraine’s Bashar al-Assad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adopted the tactic.
How frequently does Israel use it?
According to a , a joint investigation by Israeli publications + 972 and Local Call, Israel is now “routinely” using the tactic in its war against Gaza.
According to a source in one of the military command centers oversawing the strikes, planners are aware that the tactic amounts to a death sentence for the a few hundred or so victims of the initial strike and their aides.
The source explained that if a senior commander is struck, another one will be carried out in the future to prevent rescue efforts.
They kill first responders and rescue teams, according to the saying. They return and strike on top of them.
Is it permitted?
Not at all.
The 1949 Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the targeting of medical personnel, those assisting in rescue efforts, or those who were hurt during the first strike, are known as double strikes.
In fact, the strikes on Monday targeted a hospital with a large number of doctors, nurses, and journalists.
Despite the fact that all of the above are protected by international law, Israel has consistently been accused of attacking them during its conflict in Gaza.
The total number of civil defense and healthcare workers Israel has killed during its war in Gaza is unknown. According to an Al Jazeera report, the number of journalists killed by Israel in Gaza on Monday is at least 273, making it the deadliest conflict for reporters ever.
Israel has also been accused of repeatedly attacking journalists with a purposeful intention in Gaza.
These are they “warning taps”?
No, you’re not referring to “roof-knocking.”
Roof-knocking is the practice of “warning” residents that a larger strike is imminent and ostensibly to give them time to evacuate by dropping light ammunition onto the roof of a target shortly before a primary strike.
Whole extended families would be forced to flee their homes in a matter of minutes when a residential building knocks on the roof.
What Israel refers to as “roof-knocking” refers to its earlier attacks on Gaza, including those in 2008, 2012, and 2014, and is frequently confused with any kind of warnings issued to residents of the area Israel wants to attack, sometimes giving them as little as five minutes to leave.
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations claim that Israel manipulates the initial strike to create a double tap by using heavier weapons during what might be a humanitarian measure.
Amnesty International criticized the practice during Israel’s 2014 offensive against Gaza, saying that “there is no way that firing a missile at a civilian home can constitute an effective “warning.”
Israel announced it would no longer give Palestinians this warning two days after it began its current conflict with Gaza. Instead, it stated that people would be guided out of harm’s way by text messaging and outdated maps.
[Screengrab/Al Jazeera] Journalists killed on August 25, 2025 in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital
What was said by Israel?
Netanyahu claimed that Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians,” adding that “the military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation.”
The Israeli army claimed in a statement that it regrets “any harm to uninvolved individuals” and does not discriminate against journalists.
Israel will undoubtedly conduct an investigation?
According to an analysis released in August by Action on Armed Violence, 88 percent of the inquiries the Israeli military claimed to be conducting into its own conduct were stalled or closed without action.
Israel has known that 83 percent of the people it was killing during its war in Gaza, or 52, 000 of those killed, according to a leaked report from its own conflict.
At least 21 people were killed in the attack on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, including five journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, according to Israel, which has received a lot of negative reviews.
The attack on Monday involved two “double taps,” the second of which was captured on camera and showed journalists and rescuers being directly hit on a staircase.
Since its occupation of Gaza in October 2023, Israel has since killed more than 270 journalists and media figures. A sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, who worked as a correspondent for Al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper, was killed in a separate incident in Khan Younis later on Monday, not just the journalists killed by the Nasser Hospital attack.
The journalists who were killed made up Gaza’s dwindling but increasingly close-knit media community. They had already endured almost two years of war, which had an impact on both their professional and personal lives.
Ahmed Abu Aziz
Ahmed Abu Aziz, a Palestinian journalist who was killed on August 25, 2025 during Israeli attacks on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, uploads a selfie.
Ahmed Abu Aziz, 29, was admired by his modesty, charity, and humility.
Ahmed had a reputation for being well-known in Gaza’s media scene, and he collaborated with organizations like Middle East Eye, Quds Feed, and the Independent Commission for Human Rights.
Ahmed was unable to travel around Gaza because of the conflict. He would frequently travel by foot across the Gaza Strip to investigate reports of Israeli war crimes committed against Palestinian civilians.
Ahmed got married in July of last year, and he was also working on a doctoral dissertation at Tunisia’s Institute for Press and Information Sciences, which expressed regret for his death and condemned journalists’ harassment in Gaza.
Hussam al-Masri
Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for the Reuters news agency, was killed at Nasser Hospital on August 25, 2025.
Hussam al-Masri, 49, worked for Reuters news agency as a contractor and photojournalist for Palestine TV. Nasser Hospital’s live video feed, which Hussam claimed “suddenly shut down at the time of the initial]Israeli] strike,” was running for Reuters.
Hussam’s devotion to his work was demonstrated even as he dealt with personal difficulties.
Amr Tabash, a journalist who was writing Hussam’s death on Instagram, recalls that he had asked him to “help me evacuate my wife” in a broken voice a few days prior. She is suffering from an illness, and I can no longer bear to watch her go through that.
Hussam was one of the last patients to leave Nasser Hospital during an Israeli siege in December, according to Amr, who described him as devoted to helping others. Since Hussam is no longer able to help his wife, Amr requested that she do so.
Hussam has lost his partner and family, but his wife is still fighting cancer alone, in excruciating pain, according to Amr. Do not allow his wife to be put to death in silence for Hussam’s sake, for the cause to which he devoted his life, and for his children.
Mariam Abu Daqqa
On June 14, 2024, freelancer Mariam Abu Daqqa, 33, worked for The Associated Press and other outlets in Khan Younis. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]
A 13-year-old boy named Ghaith was the mother of Mariam Abu Daqqa, a 33-year-old Palestinian journalist.
Ghaith was sent to live with his father in the United Arab Emirates out of fear for his safety during the war.
Mariam contributed to Independent Arabia while working as a freelance photographer for a number of international publications, including The Associated Press.
She was well-known among her coworkers because of how diligently and unapologetically she kept tabs on the suffering of the Palestinian people. Even under repeated Israeli assaults on Gaza, she remained on the front lines, among the journalists covering the conflict at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Mariam documented numerous human accounts that revealed the suffering Palestinians are enduring under siege and bombardment.
Mariam was also devoted to her family. She had previously given her father, who had kidney failure, a kidney she had previously donated. However, she was unable to save her mother, who had been battling cancer for four months because Gaza’s lack of treatment was unreachable.
Mohammad Salama
On August 25, 2025, Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital killed Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Salama. [Handout via Reuters]
Mohammad Salama worked for Al Jazeera in Gaza as a 24-year photojournalist and cameraman. He was born and educated in the town’s schools in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis.
In February of this year, he began working as a cameraman for Al Jazeera. Even in the most difficult circumstances, he was admired by his professionalism, dedication, cheerful smile, and upbeat spirit among his coworkers.
Mohammad lived with his father and his family until he lost his mother in childhood. He proposed to journalist Hala Asfour in November, expecting their wedding after a truce or ceasefire.
Mohammad received a photography diploma while attending a vocational college. He took numerous courses, shadowed veteran journalists, and developed his passion for photojournalism as a young child.
After an Israeli operation in Khan Younis in December 2023, he was one of the few journalists who were evacuated, but he was temporarily forced to leave when Israeli forces stormed Nasser Hospital and ejected displaced residents from the city at gunpoint.
The journalist who was killed in the war would later be killed in the same hospital.
Moaz Abu Taha
Moaz Abu Taha collaborated with several international and Palestinian outlets.
A 27-year-old freelance video journalist from Palestine, Moaz Abu Taha.
Before losing his life along with his colleagues, Moaz was one of the younger photojournalists who covered the destruction of Gaza.
He wrote on Facebook that, “By God, our strength is gone” after the tragic death of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif two weeks prior.
Moaz frequently assisted patients, the less fortunate, and children because he was known for his humor, kindness, and humanity.
After learning about the initial strike at Nasser Hospital, his brother, journalist Adly Abu Taha, called him. “I called him right away. He responded, “Hussam al-Masri has been killed, but I’m fine.” I pleaded with him to leave and said, “May God have mercy on him.”
